An inseparable bond.
An insatiable force.
Battling his own personal demons, Police Chief Jonah Westfall knows the dark side of life and has committed himself to eradicating it. When a pair of raccoons are found mutilated in Redford, Colorado, Jonah investigates the gruesome act, knowing the strange event could escalate and destroy the tranquility of his small mountain town. With a rising drug threat and never-ending conflict with Tia Manning, a formidable childhood friend with whom he has more than a passing history, Jonah fights for answers—and his fragile sobriety.
But he can’t penetrate every wound or secret.
While home schooling her four kids, Kristen Heitzmann wrote her first novel. It became one of a five book historical series. Since then, she has written three more historical novels and eight contemporary romantic and psychological suspense novels including The Still of Night, nominated for the Colorado Book Award, The Tender Vine, a Christy Award finalist and Christy Award winning Secrets. She lives in Colorado with her husband Jim, sundry family members, and pets.
My Impressions:
Earlier this week, I read a very thoughtful blog post from My Friend Amy concerning what the nature of Christian Fiction should be. She describes two distinct points of view: 1) Christian Fiction should be clean fiction with the plot and characters clearly reflecting God or 2) it should be edgier depicting the flaws, sins and ugliness of the world — in plot and characterization. Characters in this second type of fiction can be saved and/or unsaved yet still be deeply flawed and incomplete. This is the type of book Kristen Heitzmann brings in her newest novel, Indivisble.
Jonah Westfall is the police chief of Redford. A recovering alcoholic, he deals with a past filled with child abuse at the hands of his father, the former police chief. Tia Manning is the unwanted, unloved child who has grown up strangled by her guilt and shame. Enter in a whole cast of misfits and damaged people and you have the characters of Indivisible. This is a dark novel. The damage is hidden and buried, not fit to be brought out into the light.
One of the things the characters struggle with is nature vs. nurture. One character contemplates that either can be destructive – a nature that should be celebrated can be starved and a person can be nurtured into brokenness. Thankfully, our sovereign God overcomes our nature/nurture by making us new creations.
I struggled with Indivisible. Different from the other two books I have read by Heitzmann, it was a troubling, dark, twisting read, but well worth the attention. It is thought-provoking — promising to be a debate starter. So if you want strictly a clean, Christian read with no grittiness, don’t pick this book up. But if you want to be challenged, stretched and maybe a little uncomfortable, take a look at Indivisible.
Recommended (not for the faint of heart!)
(I received Indivisible from Waterbrook/Multnomah in return for an honest review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.)
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